Issued by National Eisteddfod
The 2024 Rhondda Cynon Taf National Eisteddfod will be launched with a free day-long festival at The Lion, Treorchy on Saturday, March 4.
Bringing the community together, the festival offers a taste of what to expect at the Eisteddfod, held in the county during the first week of August next year.
Organisers have worked with performers, artists, and community groups across the region to create a fantastic taster session at The Lion, running from 10am until late, ending with a gig, starring top Welsh rock band, Candelas, who have headlined all the Eisteddfod’s major stages and events over recent years.
The event celebrates the start of the Eisteddfod’s homecoming, as the first modern-day Eisteddfod was held in Aberdare in 1861. The festival has developed and evolved greatly since then, and today’s event is a warm, friendly, and inclusive festival, celebrating our language and culture.
It is one Europe’s largest festivals with 1,000 individual events, attracting over 160,000 visitors every year and it travels around Wales.
2024 Eisteddfod Chair, Helen Prosser, said: “We’re delighted to be launching the Rhondda Cynon Taf National Eisteddfod with a festival for the whole family on Saturday, March 4.
“We’ve got a packed programme of events and activities aimed at the whole family. The Eisteddfod is for everyone, and we hope that our event in Treorchy will get local people excited and keen to get involved in the preparations over the next few months.
“Our main message as we launch the project is that the Eisteddfod belongs to us all, whether we’ve been to the festival in the past or if we’re just curious about what’s coming to Rhondda Cynon Taf next year.
“We want everyone to get involved, Welsh learners, confident Welsh speakers and everyone who’s lost touch with our language since school or who’ve never had the chance to learn.
“We’ve got plenty of work to do over the next 18 months, organising competitions, promoting the event, and fundraising, and we want people from every community, village and town across the three Valleys to get involved.
“This is our first National Eisteddfod since 1956, so let’s make it really special and show everyone how we get things done in Rhondda Cynon Taf.”
National Eisteddfod
Councillor Rhys Lewis, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language, said “We are looking forward to welcoming the National Eisteddfod to Rhondda Cynon Taf in 2024. The event at The Lion will give our residents a little taste of what’s to come when Europe’s biggest music and poetry festival visits our County Borough.
“The Eisteddfod is for you, it’s for me, it’s for all of us. There really will be something for everyone at the 2024 Rhondda Cynon Taf National Eisteddfod and we want all our communities involved, no matter their age, background or circumstances.
“With so much to look forward to, the event at The Lion is a fun way to kick off what will be an exciting start to such a well-loved and well-known festival.
“The first modern-day Eisteddfod was held in Aberdare in 1861, and it’s fantastic that it is once again coming home to Rhondda Cynon Taf. We can’t wait to see our residents and visitors on the Maes, enjoying all the festival has to offer.”
Partners for the festival in The Lion include Menter Iaith Rhondda Cynon Taf, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Aelwyd Cwm Rhondda and Dysgu Cymraeg Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Following the festival, organisers will host an open meeting at the University of South Wales, Treforest, on Thursday March 16, at 7pm for everyone interested in getting involved in organising the competitions and artistic activities.
There’s a warm welcome for everyone at the event with simultaneous translation available. Work will also start on organising community events at micro local level, and more information will follow on this shortly.
The Rhondda Cynon Taf National Eisteddfod is held in the county borough during the first week of August, 2024.
Posted on 22/02/2023